95m3ltw

Mouthliquor wrote:I always bring up the fact that there are so many refurbished HP devices for sale, that it says something about the quality they ship out. On the positive side of that though, if you think about it, you're probably better off getting the refurbished item, because then it's gone through their version of "quality assurance" - ship it and let the customer test it to see [s]if there's something[/s] what's wrong with it.

Having bought 2 32GB Touchpads back in the fire sale last year, I can say money is better spent on the newer tablets that are true android devices. The touchpad was cheaply made, mine has been in a case since day one and babied, it still cracked around every opening such as the power/headphone and speaker openings. The glass is raised a bit and very flimsy. Google touchpad issues and it seems the refurbished units are even worse with many people regretting they sent theirs in for warranty work since the refurbished units were in much worse condition.

As to usability, it works "just" ok as a android device. I do use it for streaming netflix and surfing the web, but I have issues with it shutting down or taking forever to charge.

Great price but a Nexus 7 or Nexus 10 is a FAR BETTER tablet that just works out of the box. I would not buy a new touchpad for $99, if given the choice again.

charliecarroll

Mouthliquor wrote:I always bring up the fact that there are so many refurbished HP devices for sale, that it says something about the quality they ship out. On the positive side of that though, if you think about it, you're probably better off getting the refurbished item, because then it's gone through their version of "quality assurance" - ship it and let the customer test it to see [s]if there's something[/s] what's wrong with it.

Woot does not state if this is a factory refurb or not. Or, at least I have not found where it is stated. So, if it is a refurb from another and unknown vendor, your argument as to the factory going over it again goes out the window. For example I posted a comparison today on refurbs, two from ebay. One was a seller refurb and the other was a factory refurb.

ewyho

I agree, I got my camera to work, and with most apps, it is rotated 90 degrees, but for some reason, the Mirror app works properly for the camera, no rotated 90 degrees. This was using Dorregaray's programming code with Preview 3 and Preview 6.

Now, he has come out with Preview 7 and Preview 8 that fixes these issues.

http://rootzwiki.com/topic/34482-unofficial-cm9-with-working-camera/

I've also taken memory from the "SD Card" and increased internal memory from 1.5GB to 5.5GB on CM9 by using jcsullins code, allowing for more apps to be installed on internal storage:

http://rootzwiki.com/topic/13277-cm7-fixes-for-sdcard-issues/

Haven't had any issues whatsoever, bought mine back in May and does everything I want it to do.

gak0090

I am still not impressed at this price. You can get Toshiba Thrives, Acer A200, A500, Asus Transformers for between 180 and 220 refurbed now. They all get manufacturer updates to ice cream sandwich, everything works on them. I can't see where this is a good deal.

dliidlii

cpone wrote:Hey man, I had the same issue with it not charging up. You are completely right that the wifi sucks the battery right up. But you need to try trickle charging again. Connect the USB to your PC, the start doing the hustle with the power and home button reset. It will eventually come back on. Took a few hours in my case of doing the slow trickle power and the button hustle. GL.

Otherwise everyone, this is a GREAT value for something that has the exact specs as the iPad for a fraction of the cost.

That "fraction" is really small. A 1st gen iPad can be had for only $20 to $40 more. I got a 16GB iPad for $204 including tax/delivery and have seen the 32GB for $229.

dallasguy

ewyho wrote:I agree, I got my camera to work, and with most apps, it is rotated 90 degrees, but for some reason, the Mirror app works properly for the camera, no rotated 90 degrees. This was using Dorregaray's programming code with Preview 3 and Preview 6.

Now, he has come out with Preview 7 and Preview 8 that fixes these issues.

http://rootzwiki.com/topic/34482-unofficial-cm9-with-working-camera/

I've also taken memory from the "SD Card" and increased internal memory from 1.5GB to 5.5GB on CM9 by using jcsullins code, allowing for more apps to be installed on internal storage:

http://rootzwiki.com/topic/13277-cm7-fixes-for-sdcard-issues/

Haven't had any issues whatsoever, bought mine back in May and does everything I want it to do.

I installed one of the nightly CM9 releases a week or two ago...it's not the latest though. The nightly I installed did not fix the camera. Do you know if the latest nightly release has the camera fix or do you have to fix that separately somehow with a patch? If it's a separate patch, do you know if there are any plans to merge those changes into the regular nightlies?

jrstinkfish

For the amount of work you have to put in to make this a (mostly) usable Android tablet, you are likely better off paying a little more for either a used last-gen Android tablet or a newer one. Build quality on these things are notoriously hit or miss (wait til it cracks near the speaker), so unless you really crave webOS, I'd pass this one up if I were you.

But I'm not you, and you'll see an under-$200 tablet and buy it anyway. I tried!

ewyho

dallasguy wrote:I installed one of the nightly CM9 releases a week or two ago...it's not the latest though. The nightly I installed did not fix the camera. Do you know if the latest nightly release has the camera fix or do you have to fix that separately somehow with a patch? If it's a separate patch, do you know if there are any plans to merge those changes into the regular nightlies?

I installed the nightly CM9 dated 10/21, I believe, but then I also ran the patches, so I don't know whether or not the nightly fixed the issue. I know for a fact the patches definitely fixes the issues. For the camera, you only need to install Preview 7 and Preview 8 (don't need to install Previews 1 through 6).

For someone like me who is a real techie, I love the Touchpad, but I agree, if you can find another 9.7" 32GB tablet at a comparable price tag, I would go for that instead of the Touchpad, unless you are up for the challenge and really want a dual-boot device.

splitenz72

We were very happy to get one of these at Best Buy when they came down in price. It has a beautiful display and was a lot of fun to play with. However, we have had bad luck with the charging adapter, however. We've replaced it twice and once again it has died. So now we have a device that can't be reliably charged and we are more than a little frustrated. I think this may be a known issue, but I don't have time at the moment to research it. Be warned!

honestmonkey

I got one of these a while back from Woot, paid a bit more. I'm not sure what people use tablets for, it was mostly just to goof around for me. I like it okay, BUT: battery life for me (with WebOS) is not that great (maybe 8 hours straight). I make sure I turn on airplane mode when not in use. It's all right to check email on, or look up stuff briefly on the web. I take it on trips instead of having to have a laptop. And I have the Kindle app to read books with.

But, really, it's a toy. Don't expect to do any real work with it. It's kind of slow, the camera is crappy and just for Skype, which, since it's kind of slow, doesn't work that well (drops out all the time). And since it's only WiFi, you have to always find some place willing to give you WiFi. I had a hard time finding videos that it would run, it's kind of picky here, and at only 32 GB total (no add-on SD card or USB port for storage) it isn't going to be a great movie-watching device (although I did watch a couple TV shows once and they looked okay, for the small screen).

thelastpiece

I have a 16GB refurb at work and a 32GB that I bought new at home. I've had and used the 32GB for well over a year now, probably averaging about 2 hours a day and a little more on weekends. I've had the 16GB for about 6-8 months and use it almost every day for about an hour or so. Both have Touchstone chargers, HP cases and are running the newest nightlies.

I've never had charging problems, cracks in the case or serious battery life problems. I read comics and ebooks, play games, edit documents, read pdf schematics and manuals for work, watch video and surf the net. I would definitely buy one again if I were to do it again.

tamtammy

[quote postid="5230302" user="diemlinh7"]Thanks very much! (Now I just need to find a kid who's willing to install it for me for $20!)

Listen, if I could do it myself, you probably can. The online instructions are pretty clear, and I was startled by how smoothly it went. OTOH, if I knew a kid who would do it for $20, I probably would have too.

shifuimam

I got a 16GB off Craigslist from a nice guy who asked a reasonable price and had already installed CM9 on it.

WebOS is pretty fantastic - there's really no way around that. The card interface is really cool for easily switching apps, and the preinstalled apps are amazing for a 10" tablet - much better than anything else out there, including what's in iOS.

I would absolutely love to see more WebOS apps come out, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

All that said, I think we'll be skipping this one. There are much better Android tablets out there now. The TouchPad is heavy and uses previous-generation hardware at this point. If Woot offers a 16GB for $99 shipped or less, that might be worth it...

90mcg112

I've had mine for over a year now, been running CM9 on it for a while. It's not a bad little tablet, but for the money it was a better deal last year than this year. There have been a number of other tablets that have come out in the past year that are available refurbed in this price point that would probably be a better deal.

Short version - I don't regret my purchase last year, but wouldn't pay the same this year.

escalante

gak0090 wrote:I am still not impressed at this price. You can get Toshiba Thrives, Acer A200, A500, Asus Transformers for between 180 and 220 refurbed now. They all get manufacturer updates to ice cream sandwich, everything works on them. I can't see where this is a good deal.

I saw the 10" 32 GB Asus Transformers on sale for $220 the other day on another 1-item a day sale site. It was manufacturer refurbished and seemed like a great price. But I would not buy from that site because they have no forum or any way to leave any kind of feedback or comments. That is one of the most important things about Woot.

ohlfahrt

I did buy a couple of these a while back. Nice chunk of hardware. But, every time I look to buying another piece of HP consumer-level equipment, I look at their recent lack of commitment to support of those customers that can least afford to be abandoned.

The operating system on the TouchPad is really dated; HP has officially declined to release an update to it. Current builds of Android are 'iffy' and require a great deal of user commitment.

But, if you have a precocious teenager in the house who really is into operating systems, then this is the machine to buy.

gak0090

escalante wrote:I saw the 10" 32 GB Asus Transformers on sale for $220 the other day on another 1-item a day sale site. It was manufacturer refurbished and seemed like a great price. But I would not buy from that site because they have no forum or any way to leave any kind of feedback or comments. That is one of the most important things about Woot.

I have bought from 1saleaday before with no regrets, also Redtag, secondipity. It takes some trust, one time I had to send something back (defective) to 1saleaday- but they gave me no issues, and I have bought plenty from them that I did not need to send back. As long as there is a decent return policy - I'll take the chance. I do prefer woot, sometimes they don't have the price/selections I'm looking for though.

GossipNinja

If you dual booth WebOS and Android(in my case CyanogenMOD) there was some issues with the wi-fi driver using more power when booted in to Android vs WebOS. It eventually caused my 16GB model to never power up again dual to not accepting a charge, even after more than a week of "trickle" charging.(Google "HP Touchpad won't charge" or "won't power up") They might have fixed it by now, but figured I would let people know.

With that said I am still contemplating buy this since it was a great tablet otherwise.

I have had that happen too, I solved it my using the OEM charger (I would imagine any other 2 amp charger would work) and let it charge for a good 2 days. then hold the power AND home button for 30 seconds, it should turn on.

It seems that on android, if the wifi goes power hungry, the device uses more amperage than standard usb can provide so it trickle-dies instead of charge.

tomnstl

swootton wrote:It has one major flaw if you're a Amazon Prime person. You cannot stream movies in WebOS or Android. It sort of works in Android but not well. I've had mine since the last $199 deal and it's a great tablet for everything except that.

BTW, mine does not charge on the touchstone I bought. Been back to HP twice and works for 3-5 days then stops. I gave up and just plug the cable in. HP support sucks for warranty repairs. I had to argue and provide proof that the Woot website said HP warranty. They insisted that HP doesn't reman/warranty this item any more.

I just checked; mine does amazon prime video just fine on both WebOS and Android. I think it looks a bit better and smoother on WebOS, but that may just be my cheap old router.
I got one back in March, I think and liked it so much that I got another one for my sister when Woot had the refurbs on sale a few months later.
Now that I've got them both dual booting; it's like the best of both worlds.
Don't expect any support from HP and just use it for a fun media device and it's fine.
Sadly, all the new models of android and ipads do make this show it's age; but for the price it's worth it to learn on if you aren't sure if you'll like tablets.

gak0090

No way. RT will never have the drivers to run this device (this thing is obsolete), even if it was available and possible to put the OS on via loader. Even if they did, this tablet is too under powered for that OS.

GossipNinja

I have 2 32GB touchpads I got during firesale, one stock and one has CM10. They are nice tablets compared to the acers and asus's that were $400+ at the time.

As it stands, I would tell someone to buy an older asus or Acer a500 for around the same money.

I just got my parents an acer a500 for $180 open box. It has similar specs to the touchpad but is native android ICS which is good for my parents who don't want to tweak roms, and having full size usb for flash drives and hdmi for tv out is awesome.

If these were $99, it would be a different story, but I don't see the value in these touchpads compared to other offerings our there.

tom2step100

My issue with the dual boot was the amount of memory it used up, granted i had the 16gig from woot. With web-os and its apps, and then android and those apps I was down 10gigs. I also found it real hard to connect to new wi-fi networks if I wasn't on top of the router. I just sold mine on e-Bay and picked up a 32gig Moto Xoom for $199, added 32gig Sd card, also connected to Verizon 4g-lte for $30, posting this on my laptop using the Xooms built in hot-spot.

prodmage

Bought mine a little over a year ago and have been happy ever since. It does take a little technical knowledge (or a friend with some) to get it going but the latest CM10 nightly builds have been great. I'm actually typing this comment on it now with my bluetooth keyboard (accessories are pretty easy to find on sale cheap since it is no longer being produced).

If you are considering an Android tablet, I would highly recommend the touchpad from my experience and for the price.

Oh, and I get great battery life with the nightly build of CM10 which was not the case with several other builds so maybe that's why people are sharing negative battery life experiences.

chubky

I got one of these the last time the deal was going. This has got to be my best purchase off woot! I added the cyanogenmod fairly easily and on my first try! From one wooter to another..this deal can't be beat!

vettdaddy

Cyanogen woke this baby up, my son got it on the firesale. I got it as a gift from him when he got a newer something. Love the display really fast with good internet connection.
Come on HP step into the nineties!!

PocketBrain

If you dual booth WebOS and Android(in my case CyanogenMOD) there was some issues with the wi-fi driver using more power when booted in to Android vs WebOS. It eventually caused my 16GB model to never power up again dual to not accepting a charge, even after more than a week of "trickle" charging.(Google "HP Touchpad won't charge" or "won't power up") They might have fixed it by now, but figured I would let people know.

With that said I am still contemplating buy this since it was a great tablet otherwise.

I had a deep-discharge problem like that for a bit, it wouldn't charge up either on the cradle or with the cord enough to boot up for a bit. I left it on overnight and it finally booted. I was scared it would be dead or I would have to crack the case. Still have yet to get Android on it; is Netflix working yet?

The guy who coined the phrase "Bright and Early" never actually got up early.

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